Sunday, August 5, 2012

Pop Art ep (1984, Stonegarden)

This ep is a long overdue follow-up to Pop Art's Long Walk to Nowhere which I shared this month ago in '11.  While I wouldn't say Pop Art necessarily trumps ...Nowhere in all respects, it's generally superior.  The outright immediacy of the bulk of these jangle-drenched tunes is the key, with hearty inspiration derived from the likes of Orange Juice and a then burgeoning REM.  The chimey lilt of "Cover Me" and "Creature Comforts" predate the goodness those Pennsylvania boys The Ocean Blue would have in store for our awaiting ears in the years to follow.  Yeah, they don't make 'em like this anymore.  Something tells me that Pop Art were lazily lumped into Tinseltown's 'Paisley Underground' movement, but there's no psych-aftertaste at play here.  Take a close look at the sleeve, and you'll discern that this particular copy belonged to a radio station, hence some of the intermittent crackle.   

01. Cover Me
02. I Want to Move
03. Beautiful Girl
04. Sweet & Sour
05. Creature Comforts
06. Thinking Twice

Hear

6 comments:

ELXOSE80 said...

"Cover Me" is a masterpiece.
Outstanding Jangly Guitars.
Thanks for sharing another great album.

bglobe313 said...

Agreed with the earlier poster, the first song "Cover Me" is great! Classic example of that jangly "REM sound" that was everywhere for awhile.

I get diminishing returns as I move through the EP, but even more so than in the usual case I would say that's a matter of taste and how one personally reacts to the stylistic decisions that the band and especially the singer make. In other words, if you said this was one of your favorite bands, I wouldn't think you were an idiot.

Reading your (spavid's) intro I realized that I had sampled the band before on PVAC. Can't remember what it sounded like, only a vague sense that it did not live up to the name of Pop Art!

Thanks, as usual. Another one to add to my "Another Jangly Mess" compilation.

Ace K.

spavid said...

Glad you're enjoying this as much as I am. As for your comp Ace, I think you could compile several box sets worth of "jangly mess" tracks from this blog alone. Not that I'm giving you any ideas or anything...

bglobe313 said...

Yeah, that "Jangly Mess" comp which at one time (pre-blog days) I thought I could put on one CD has now, thanks in very large part to this site, become more a mythic quest than a reality. If for no other reason than I know that others who have more energy, more recordings, and more dedication will beat me to it and all I've have to do is d/l and enjoy!

Ace

Unknown said...

Oh, I am so late to the party! But every now and then I remember the greatest band that never was and how much I miss that sound. I actually reached out to Dave Steinhart after I personally "discovered" Pop Art (in 1999 or so) and he has been good enough to allow me to be a FB friend of his since.

wish I could find a site that had the lyrics to Cover Me. they seem to be elusive.

IVAN said...

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